Jonathan Ziegler
Forum Replies Created
-
Egads, what to pay. You probably won’t be paying what you paid your freelancers, but you have to make it reasonable. Hit up salary.com to see what to pay – I think they’re numbers are a little high for Tucson where I’m at, but about right for Phoenix.
Saw other advice on payroll like quickbooks and that’s fine for a 2-man group.
For the legal, I hooked up with Pre-Paid Legal. They come off kinda scammy, but I absolutely love the service – I have the personal legal service for $20 a month and they’ve already helped with a couple debt collectors and a few tickets plus the single biz owner rider. I’ve talked to business owners who keep lawyers on retainer for $thousands, but it’s like $75-100 a month for the business service and they give you tons of advice, contracts, contact slow payers, even help with articles of organization and tax advice (from a real tax lawyer) all for a very low rate and a discount off of any services which they don’t cover. The best part is you contact them anytime during the day and someone calls back in a few minutes (usually). My point is below:
Besides the usual “you should hire a lawyer” advice, you need to protect your intellectual property. That’s trade secrets (the things specific to your business that let you do business and make $) and copyright. If you’re hiring a newbie, they’ll be having a look at your biz and will gain valuable info and access to your clients. That’s where a non-competition agreement, a “don’t steal my clients” agreement, a non-disclosure agreement, throw in an at-will employment agreement (AZ is a right-to-fire state), and anything else your lawyer can come up with. I know it sounds like a lot, but if there is no contract and your guy or gal decides they don’t need you anymore and steal all your clients, your images, your stuff, or the way you do business, you have no legal recourse. A binding contract is a lawyer’s territory and your best friend – don’t do guesswork; hire a lawyer. I’m guessing you use contracts with freelancers so you want the same with W2 employees.
Finally, look for someone you like, has a good work ethic (finishes on time, shows on time, you can trust), who’s good with customers (on the phone, in email or in person), is a go-getter (proactive?), and who has a solid “design” aesthetic. You can teach software, but there’s a certain thing to someone who has a sense of what looks good and doesn’t. I’ve worked with pros who had no schooling who were better than the art-school kiddies (I can’t talk, I have a BA in graphic design), but I’ve seen the opposite, too. Keep your options open and be flexible and you might be surprised.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Ages ago, I was able to get a Hi-8 camcorder to transfer directly with controls using iMovie via firewire on my old G4. This was one of the early versions of iMovie, but if you have a copy or can download a demo of iLife, it might be worth a try. What camera, Mac and version of FCP are you using?
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Anyone know if FCS Maintenance Pack works for moving this stuff?
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Hey there, if you are just showing rough footage like dailies/rushes (no editing), convert using Compressor to SD NTSC and use one of the DVD presets for the amount of footage you have and let it add letterbox bars. The files will be much smaller and since you won’t be editing, you can just drop them straight into the DVD Studio Pro timeline (don’t forget to do your audio, too unless they don’t need to hear audio) and make a DVD from that.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Thought I would chime in a bit – depends on what you’re shooting. I find DSLRs need not only stabilization, but added weight in the form of 1.25# or 2.5# gym weights attached to a stabilizer. The T2i we’re using weighs in under 2# with the included lens whereas most other cameras we’ve used are around 2.5-5#. When attached to a stabilizer, it’s way too bottom heavy and the rig sways like a boat. Adding weight to the top AND bottom seems to help. If you’re using rails and such, too, make sure to weigh it all out first.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Again, just the clip you’ve selected. As far as I know, there’s no way to play back multiple clips continuously. This is all in the T2i manual – download here: https://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=19943 – if you don’t have the camera yet, the info won’t do you any good. 🙁
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Ack! No! FD mounts bad. The guy is wrong – you need a converter with an optical bit in it because parts of the lens hang down and will collide with the mirror on the camera. Check out pricing on Canon FD mount to EF/EFS lenses before you buy. If the lens is really cheap, it’s worth it, but otherwise I’ve been staying away from FD mount lenses.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
You play each clip one at a time – click the “play” button, go to the clip you want, then hit Set, choose your play option(s), then hit set again to select play or whatever.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
I’ve run into this issue with my T2i as well. What I’ve found: if the fluorescent, neon, or other cycling light has a bad ballast, it doesn’t matter what shutter speed you shoot at, it will give the wavy lines. We have a couple fixes: 1) use DC only lighting (LEDs, DC fluorescents, tungsten bulbs), 2) replace the faulty ballast(s), 3) use different lights. I’m no lighting expert, but when ballasts go bad, they get louder and they cycle funny which can cause wavy lines like a moire pattern. When we shoot with brand new lights, we get no waves.
We were shooting at a bar with much neon. We loved the low light on the T2i and wanted to try some moody lighting. It looked absolutely great everywhere except by one neon light whose ballast was getting pretty old and pretty obviously highlighting our actor with a halo of blue, wavy lines. We replaced the light out of frame with a couple LED strips with bits of blue and red gels taped to them and it worked great. I’ve heard good things about car lighting LED strips, cathode tubes, and DC neon and fluorescent, but I’ve not tried them.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293 -
Depends on what you shoot. We shoot a lot of video with natural light at night, so the faster the better. I have an f2.8 35mm, 50mm 1.8 (awesome), and 85mm f2 which makes everything look gorgeous (portrait lens) and the narrow DOF makes for great cinema. 😉 The only one I wish were faster is the 35mm. I would kill for a 1.8 or 1.4. Maybe not kill, but maybe pee in a pool or something. 😉 If you plan to shoot in tight quarters, consider a decent uber wide-angle like 18mm or 24/28mm or something (the 35mm is just too long sometimes). If you plan to do a lot of long shots or nature video, think on a 105 or longer if you think you’ll need it. I’m a big fan of Nikon glass, too.
Jonathan Ziegler
https://www.electrictiger.com/
520-360-8293